last nail of poison
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: The Chosen aren't the only ones who search for a way back to the digital world. And how were they supposed to know that that search would lead an enemy they couldn't fight to their doorstep?


**A/N:** Written for the Digimon Bingo: the Non-Flash Bingo, prompt #044: seek.

**.**

**.**

**last nail of poison**

**.**

'Nothing again?' Takuya asked.

Kouji shook his head, plopping onto the Kanbara's couch with a sigh. 'The station's the same as it always was.'

Takuya sat down beside him. 'It almost makes you think they don't want us back.'

'That's ridiculous.' Kouji closed his eyes. 'If they didn't want us back, they'd have done the smart thing and taken Ni-san's digivice as well. And probably erased our memories while they were at it. It's not like Cherubimon at the very least can't do that.'

'That's true,' Takuya allowed. 'But seriously; I wish the gate would just open up. Every day that passes…' His voice dropped, shaking a little. 'It feels like the digital world gets just that little bit further away, you know.'

'I know.' Kouji sounded a little depressed. 'But all we can do is keep looking.'

**.**

'You've probably got the worst luck out of all of us,' Kouji commented.

'And yet,' his brother returned, voice crackling a little due to the poor connection. It sounded like he was walking. 'I'm the only one with a digivice.'

'You're also the only one miles away from where the gates were.'

Kouji had returned home by then. Tossing himself on to the couch because the search they'd wasted their Sundays for had borne no fruit at all.

'That doesn't mean they'll necessarily show up in Shibuya again,' Kouichi reminded.

'I think Minami is even more unlikely.' But it wasn't. Not really. After all, the Angels knew the only one of them with a digivice left was Kouichi, so he'd be the easiest to contact. If it came to that.

And they really couldn't say Shibuya had been the only gate to open. Angemon had said Ophanimon brought a _lot_ of children. The Trailmon might have collected children from other parts of the world as well. Other parts of Japan.

'With that attitude, the gate might as well open up in Alaska.'

Kouichi was laughing at him. Kouji knew it.

'Why Alaska?' he asked, instead of retaliating. Kouichi was surprisingly good at tossing his arguments back at him.

'Why not Alaska?'

Kouji groaned. Kouichi laughed again. Aloud this time. 'Well, I'm almost home.'

'Talk to you tomorrow, then,' Kouji said.

**.**

'Tomorrow,' Kouichi agreed, before disconnecting the call. The D-scanner didn't quite function like the phone it had been born from, but it worked well enough as a communication tool. He could only call the phones that had turned into D-scanners in the digital world, but so far none of the other five had gotten it in to their heads to change their phones, and so it wasn't a problem.

It also meant they didn't have to wait for Kouichi to be home to talk to him, which was rather convenient. Especially when they were trying to keep secrets from their parents. Like the digital world.

He made sure the digivice was safely tucked into his jacket pocket before unlocking his door. 'Taidama,' he called quietly, though he wasn't expecting a reply. His mother would be at work until dinner. And her shoes weren't on the mat to prove him wrong.

But he got one. An unfamiliar sweet voice with something dangerous underlining it.

The D-scanner didn't work particularly well as a weapon in the human world, but he snuck a hand in to his pocket and gripped it tightly anyway.

The voice was coming from the kitchen. 'Hello?'

The voice laughed. 'What a polite young boy.'

**.**

Kouji straightened as a wave of…something washed over him. It might have been fear, but after the Digital World he couldn't say he was a stranger to fear and there was something…different about it. Something cautious.

And then a second feeling brushed over him and that was definitely fear. Not the fear he'd felt when Lucemon had them utterly defeated. Not the fear when they'd thought they wouldn't be able to save anyone at all. Not the fear that Kouichi had felt when he'd lost his footing on the stairs, or that time as Velgemon – as hard a trouble as he'd had with all the _other_ emotions mixing with each other…

But it was fear, and it was strong enough for him to feel from here.

He took his mobile out. He didn't know the mechanics behind the D-scanner having a number and reception like a regular phone, but it had. They'd discovered that after Kouichi had used it to call Kouji's phone. And they'd saved the number.

He pressed call now.

**.**

'Who…are you?'

But, really, Kouichi didn't need to ask the question. She couldn't possibly be a human. And she looked too much like a certain carving with the seven deadly sins for him to think she could be an innocent lost digimon.

And it seemed as though the digimon realised that as well, because she frowned and dropped the façade of innocence she seemed prepared to play. She'd been playing with the pots and cups anyway.

Kouichi made a mental note to scrub them furiously afterwards, just to make sure they didn't accidentally ingest her poison.

'These?' She lifted up her nails, then smirked. 'Actually, they're only dangerous to digi-code. But I'm hurt. I just came here for a little chat. Don't you trust a kind young lady?'

Kouichi hesitated, then answered with a steady voice: 'No, I really don't.'

And he dodged as she crossed the length of their kitchen and tried to strike him, her face alight with sudden fury.

Then she smiled. A smile that looked more genuine than her earlier smirk, but Kouichi, whose heart was now thudding quite loudly in his chest, was unbelieving. He didn't know much about the Demon Lord of Lust, but what he did spoke against her trustworthiness.

That and she'd more or less broken in to his home.

'All I'm trying to do is find the way back into the Digital World.'

Kouichi wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but that wasn't the first thing that jumped into mind.

**.**

'All I'm trying to do is find the way back into the Digital World.'

Lilithmon meant that statement in all sincerity, but unfortunately, it didn't look like her…companion seemed inclined to believe her. Or help her.

Though she had other means of convincing the Chosen at her disposal, she'd rather they just co-operated. And this one was the only one with a _tool…_

_Patience, dear self._

She forced her smile wider. 'You children are looking for it too, aren't you? A way back to your…friends?' She fought the turn of lip that was almost instinctual with the word. She didn't believe in love. In friendship. Pitiful excuse for things, they were.

'How do you know that?' the other asked warily his eyes flicking between her face and her nails.

_Difficult child._

_Patience_, she reminded herself. 'I was looking,' she said calmly, with a hint of need and desperation because they would suit her story. And she built on that. Need. Desperation. Tears. 'I've been lost for days, you see. And I've heard the stories. The whole digital world has. Of the children from this world who saved us. I was sure – ' She broke off and added the first tear. ' – you children would be able to help me home.'

**.**

Kouji frowned. He'd never got an error message from calling Kouichi's D-scanner before, and yet he was getting one now. Not even when they hadn't thought it was possible. It had been a whim – but it had worked and they'd used it every time thereafter. Even if Kouji's phone didn't have reception, it was still able to contact Kouichi's D-scanner. As if their connection from the time Kouji's phone had been a D-scanner too was ever-lasting.

And then they'd tried it with the others and it had worked as well. All those phones that had been D-scanners…but not when Junpei got himself a new phone or when Izumi's one had gotten damaged. It could still call Kouichi's D-scanner though, and they'd kept the old ones. Even if it couldn't have, they probably still would have kept them. Sentimental value was an important thing after all.

**.**

Kouichi bit his lip, as he tended to do when he couldn't decide something. Truthfully, he couldn't help even if he wanted to, but he had a guess as to why she was in _his_ kitchen and nobody else's.

Somehow, she had sensed his digivice. That was the only explanation. The gate was in Shibuya. Four hours away by train. Finding a gate out in Kyoto was wistful thinking and nothing more.

But maybe he was just being suspicious and his instinct was totally off-kilter (and it wouldn't be the first time if that _was_ the case) and maybe a little biased as well, considering she shared a species with Lucemon and all…

'Where did you emerge?' he asked. If curiosity killed the cat, at least he'd know whether it was hope or wistful thinking that got him there. 'In our world, I mean?'

'A place called Shibuya,' she replied.

_Of course…_

'There are Chosen in Shibuya,' he said quietly, which might have been a little fib because they weren't _exactly_ in Shibuya but that wasn't important. If she could have found them, she'd have already gone there. And he'd just finished talking to Kouji. 'Why didn't you go to them instead of coming here?'

Her face twisted into a scowl again and she lashed out. Kouichi tripped in scrambling back and she followed him into the living room.

'The digivice,' she hissed, and Kouichi hid behind the couch, his heart thumping. _Talk about poking the lion's paw…_

Was it too much to hope that the spirits of darkness would continently arrive in his D-scanner during the next few seconds?

The nails pierced through the couch and hit his shoulder and he decided as his head spun that it probably _was_ too much to hope.

**.**

Kouji jumped as something pierced his shoulder. But he looked at his shoulder and there was absolutely nothing there. Not a mark. Not a drop of blood. And even the pain was quickly fading.

But his heart was racing and a panicky feeling was growing in his chest. _Kouichi…_ It was either that or paranoia, and he wasn't going to guess on paranoia.

He tried the digivice again. Nothing. He tried the home phone. After all, Kouichi had been practically outside his apartment door.

The phone rang a little until it was snatched up.

'Are you a Chosen?'

Kouji was caught off guide. It was a female voice, but definitely not their mother. Honey. Almost trusting…but for some reason he couldn't trust that voice at all.

And it didn't have anything to the fact that she knew about Chosen. Nope, not at all.

'What's it to you?' he snapped.

'So you are.' The saccharine dripped out of her voice with each word. 'Come to the Gate. I'm sure you know which one.'

'Wait – ' Kouji cried, when that registered. 'Who's – Where's – ' _Ni-san –_

She hung up before he could get that question out.

**.**

He called the others. Told them about the feelings. About the phone call. Tried ringing back the Kimura's apartment too. This time he managed to get his mother: a panicked mother who'd come home to find her apartment a mess and her son unconscious on the floor.

'Poisoned,' Tomoko cried, 'but the doctors can't work out what it is…'

_Digimon_… the children were thinking. _It's a digimon…_

'We can go,' Takuya said. 'You go to –'

'I'm going,' said Kouji. _I couldn't just sit by._ But he didn't say the reason out loud, and he didn't need to. Nobody asked. Nobody needed to ask.

So they all went. And none of them recognised the digimon who looked so much like a woman, they could have mistaken her for some sort of cosplayer. Flashy purple, black and gold. Long gown and painted nails.

She smiled at them, but they were all on edge. And even if they couldn't guess, couldn't jump to conclusions that were true, that feeling would still be there. She just made them uncomfortable that way.

But they had other things blinding them. One was how the smile was not pleasant in the least but impatient and maybe a little desperate as well. How she drew something familiar from her sleeve and tossed it to the floor. How her nails threateningly grew and reached for them as they stepped forward, instinctively, to snatch the D-scanner away.

'Nuh-uh,' she said. 'So you're all Chosen, hmm?' She sniffed at the air. 'You do smell like the Digital World. Not like the other boy though.' She licked her nails. 'I'm impatient, I'm afraid. So open the Gate before I poison you all too.'

The five exchanged glances: a mix of panic, disbelief and pure blankness. They couldn't open the Gate. They didn't know how. Kouichi's digivice hadn't helped them at all in that regard. They'd tried countless times.

They couldn't open the Gate and whether Kouichi had told her that or something else, it didn't matter. The digital woman didn't look like she'd accept "no" for an answer, in whatever shape or form.

'Well?' the digital woman demanded, face twisting into an ugly snarl and causing Tomoki to shrink back and Junpei to sneak forward as if to defend the younger boy. And Takuya and Kouji both tensed, in different manners: anger, fear, desire… And Izumi glared and balled her hands into fists because there was nothing else she could do. Nothing else any of them could do, without their spirits and against a digimon. Without even their D-scanners…but Kouichi's hadn't been able to contact anyone from the Digital World. Just the five of them.

And now it was lying on the floor, with everyone begging for something more from it. The digital women asking it to open up the Gate back to the Digital World. The children…they wondered which would be better. And why. But they couldn't ask. Nor could they answer. Open the Gate.'

And then, suddenly they didn't need to. The digivice began to glow on its own, and a ring of yellow opened at Lilithmon's feet. She smirked, then frowned, then screamed and extended her claws. The children threw themselves to the floor to avoid the spears and covered their ears as the nails scraped against walls.

And then she was gone, and the digivice was flicking, begging for their attention.

'Children?'

'Ofanimon!' They all crawled over: the five of them, in a ring with the digivice in the middle.

'I'm sorry about that.'

'She gave us the slip,' said another sorrowful voice: another they recognised.

'Seraphimon!'

'We'd planned to seal her in the Dark Area,' Ofanimon continued. 'Cherubimon's is escorting her now.'

'Dragging,' Seraphimon corrected with a chuckle, before his tone dropped to a serious one. 'It's complicated business, combining with Gates, but we hadn't realised she could manipulate them to that extent.'

'For her to emerge in your world.' They couldn't see her face, but the children could imagine her shaking her head. 'It was lucky she didn't get any of you.'

'She did!' Kouji cried. 'Kouichi –'

'Kouichi is fine,' Ofanimon said. 'And it is thanks to him we knew where Lilithmon had slipped off to.'

'Thanks to you, you mean,' Seraphimon corrected her, then explained. 'You remember when his soul was returned to him?'

'Yes…' They all did, and it was something they would never forget.

'Ophanimon bound a little of her healing power to sustain that,' he continued. 'A soul and a body that have been separated for a while are a little incompatible when they return, but they get used to each other again. The energy was just to maintain the gap as it closed.'

'But it is a digital healing power,' Ofanimon continued. 'It is no longer needed now so it cost him nothing when it recognised Lilithmon's poison as a Digital World poison and attacked it. An…unforseen side-effect.'

'That was lucky,' Seraphimon added.

And the children were relived, because that meant Kouichi really was fine.

'Very.' And Ofanimon sounded grateful to that fact. 'And because the power is linked to me, I felt it attacking her poison and I understood.'

'And we opened the Gate,' Seraphimon finished. 'And now we must – '

'Wait!' Takuya cried. 'Can't we – '

'Not yet.' It was Cherubimon's voice who answered them: soft and gentle and more gravelly than the other two. 'Lilithmon is safely confined.' There were murmurs of assent amongst the other two Angels. 'The Gate is still fragile, and combining with it in cases like this just make it more fragile. We can't open the Gate and guarantee you'll emerge safely with us.'

'Lilithmon could not have meant to arrive in your world,' Ophanimon continued. 'It took us several tries to get here even after we knew where she was. There are many human worlds, with many Chosen and their digivices and ways to open Gates. Not all digivices can open Gates. Yours cannot. And the ones that can open parts of the world far from our country, our continents. It is a complicated universe: like worlds linked with other worlds.'

They didn't fully understand, not so fast, but they did see that a Gate wouldn't arrive for them soon.

'But one day,' Seraphimon said. 'One day the worlds will stabilise and we can open a Gate and bring you safely through. Or visit.'

The children smiled tightly. He sounded like Patamon when he said that. Or Bokomon.

'Give my regards to Kouichi,' Cherubimon said.

'Ours too,' Ofanimon and Seraphimon said together.

'And ours to Bokomon and Neemon and the warriors!' the children returned.

**.**

It took them almost five hours to get to Kouichi but, as the Angels had said, he was fine, except for the small stab wounds on his shoulder. 'I said it was a devil with a trident,' he said, somewhat sheepishly. 'Couldn't really tell them about Lilithmon.'

They weren't surprised he knew her species: he'd seen far more digimon then they through Cherubimon and his library.

Still…

'You almost gave us heart attacks,' Kouji scolded. 'How did you get skewered by her anyway?'

'Poked the lion's paw, so to speak.' Kouichi grimaced. 'Part of me wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt…'

They groaned. 'Tell me you're not that gullible,' Takuya said, before checking: 'Well, actually, if we hadn't…'

'She screamed harlot anyhow,' Izumi sniffed, and Tomoki laughed.

'Still…' Kouichi tried to shrug, but he winced in pain and stopped. Those wounds would, without the poison, still take a couple of days to heal. 'She sounded lost at first, and sad. Though something hadn't felt right with her and she dropped the act soon enough…'

'She's impatient.' Junpei nodded. 'Not that we could have helped her if she was lost. As for the Gate…'

They explained the conversation they'd had with the Great Angels.


End file.
